Centrifugal Pumps: Basic Concepts of Operation - Plant ...

to the venturi effect is very significant as the velocity at the impeller increases to 15 to 20 

ft/s. There is a further drop in pressure due to shock and turbulence as the liquid strikes 

and loads the edges of impeller vanes. The net effect of all the pressure drops is the 

creation of a very low-pressure area around the impeller eye and at the beginning of the 

trailing edge of the impeller vanes. 

The pressure reduction profile within the pump is depicted in Figure 9. 

Figure 9: Pressure Profile in a Pump 

As shown in Figure 9, the impeller eye is the point where the static pressure is at a 

minimum, p 4. During pump operation, if the local static pressure of the liquid at the 

lowest pressure becomes equal to or less than the vapor pressure (p v ) of the liquid at the 

operating temperature, vaporization of the liquid (the formation of bubbles) begins i.e. 

when p 4 ≤ p v. 

Centrifugal Pumps: Basics Concepts of Operation, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting, Part II 

By: Mukesh Sahdev, Associate Content Writer 

Presented at The Chemical Engineers’ Resource Page, www.cheresources.com

It is at the beginning of the trailing edge of the vanes near the impeller eye where the 

pressure actually falls to below the liquid vapor pressure. The region of bubble formation 

is shown in Figure 10. 

Figure 10: Impeller Cavitation Regions 

In summary, vaporization of the liquid (bubble formation) occurs due to the 

reduction of the static pressure to a value below that of the liquid vapor pressure. The 

reduction of static pressure in the external suction system occurs mainly due to friction in 

suction piping. The reduction of static pressure in the internal suction system occurs 

mainly due to the rise in the velocity at the impeller eye. 




Step Two, Growth of bubbles 

Unless there is no change in the operating conditions, new bubbles continue to form and 

old bubbles grow in size. The bubbles then get carried in the liquid as it flows from the 

impeller eye to the impeller exit tip along the vane trailing edge. Due to impeller rotating 

action, the bubbles attain very high velocity and eventually reach the regions of high 

pressure within the impeller where they start collapsing. The life cycle of a bubble has 

been estimated to be in the order of 0.003 seconds. 

Step Three, Collapse of bubbles 

As the vapor bubbles move along the impeller vanes, the pressure around the bubbles 

begins to increase until a point is reached where the pressure on the outside of the bubble 

is greater than the pressure inside the bubble. The bubble collapses. The process is not an 

explosion but rather an implosion (inward bursting). Hundreds of bubbles collapse at 

approximately the same point on each impeller vane. Bubbles collapse nonsymmetrically 

such that the surrounding liquid rushes to fill the void forming a liquid 

microjet. The micro jet subsequently ruptures the bubble with such force that a 

hammering action occurs. Bubble collapse pressures greater than 1 GPa (145x10 6 psi) 

have been reported. The highly localized hammering effect can pit the pump impeller. 

The pitting effect is illustrated schematically in Figure 11. 

Figure 11: Collapse of a Vapor Bubble 




After the bubble collapses, a shock wave emanates outward from the point of collapse. 

This shock wave is what we actually hear and what we call "cavitation". The implosion 

of bubbles and emanation of shock waves (red color) is shown in a small video clip 

available on the website version of this article. 

In nutshell, the mechanism of cavitation is all about formation, growth and collapse of 

bubbles inside the liquid being pumped. But how can the knowledge of mechanism of 

cavitation can really help in troubleshooting a cavitation problem. The concept of 

mechanism can help in identifying the type of bubbles and the cause of their formation 

and collapse. The troubleshooting method shall be explored in detail in the next part of 

the article. 

Next let us explore the general symptoms of cavitation and its affects on pump 

performance. 

General Symptoms of Cavitation and its Affects on Pump Performance 

and Pump Parts 

Perceptible indications of the cavitation during pump operation are more or less loud 

noises, vibrations and an unsteadily working pump. Fluctuations in flow and discharge 

pressure take place with a sudden and drastic reduction in head rise and pump capacity. 

Depending upon the size and quantum of the bubbles formed and the severity of their 

collapse, the pump faces problems ranging from a partial loss in capacity and head to 

total failure in pumping along with irreparable damages to the internal parts. It requires a 

lot of experience and thorough investigation of effects of cavitation on pump parts to 

clearly identify the type and root causes of cavitation. 

A detailed description of the general symptoms is given as under. 

• Reduction in capacity of the pump: 

The formation of bubbles causes a volume increase decreasing the space available for the 

liquid and thus diminish pumping capacity. For example, when water changes state from 

liquid to gas its volume increases by approximately 1,700 times. If the bubbles get big 

enough at the eye of the impeller, the pump “chokes” i.e. loses all suction resulting in a 

total reduction in flow. The unequal and uneven formation and collapse of bubbles causes 

fluctuations in the flow and the pumping of liquid occurs in spurts. This symptom is 

common to all types of cavitations. 




• Decrease in the head developed: 

Bubbles unlike liquid are compressible. The head developed diminishes drastically 

because energy has to be expended to increase the velocity of the liquid used to fill up the 

cavities, as the bubbles collapse. As mentioned earlier, The Hydraulic Standards Institute 

defines cavitation as condition of 3 % drop in head developed across the pump. Like 

reduction in capacity, this symptom is also common to all types of cavitations. 

Thus, the hydraulic effect of a cavitating pump is that the pump performance drops off of 

its expected performance curve, referred to as break away, producing a lower than 

expected head and flow. The Figure 12 depicts the typical performance curves. The solid 

line curves represent a condition of adequate NPSHa whereas the dotted lines depict the 

condition of inadequate NPSHa i.e. the condition of cavitation. 

Figure 12: Pump Performance Curves 




• Abnormal sound and vibrations: 

It is movement of bubbles with very high velocities from low-pressure area to a highpressure 

area and subsequent collapse that creates shockwaves producing abnormal sounds 

and vibrations. It has been estimated that during collapse of bubbles the pressures of the 

order of 10 4 atm develops. 

The sound of cavitation can be described as similar to small hard particles or 

gravel rapidly striking or bouncing off the interior parts of a pump or valve. Various terms 

like rattling, knocking, crackling are used to describe the abnormal sounds. The sound of 

pumps operating while cavitating can range from a low-pitched steady knocking sound 

(like on a door) to a high-pitched and random crackling (similar to a metallic impact). 

People can easily mistake cavitation for a bad bearing in a pump motor. To distinguish 

between the noise due to a bad bearing or cavitation, operate the pump with no flow. The 

disappearance of noise will be an indication of cavitation. 

Similarly, vibration is due to the uneven loading of the impeller as the mixture of vapor 

and liquid passes through it, and to the local shock wave that occurs as each bubble 

collapses. Very few vibration reference manuals agree on the primary vibration 

characteristic associated with pump cavitation. Formation and collapsing of bubbles will 

alternate periodically with the frequency resulting out of the product of speed and number 

of blades. Some suggest that the vibrations associated with cavitation produce a 

broadband peak at high frequencies above 2,000 Hertz. Some suggest that cavitation 

follows the vane pass frequency (number of vanes times the running speed frequency) 

and yet another indicate that it affects peak vibration amplitude at one times running 

speed. All of these indications are correct in that pump cavitation can produce various 

vibration frequencies depending on the cavitation type, pump design, installation and use. 

The excessive vibration caused by cavitation often subsequently causes a failure of the 

pump’s seal and/or bearings. This is the most likely failure mode of a cavitating pump, 

• Damage to pump parts: 

o Cavitation erosion or pitting 

During cavitation, the collapse of the bubbles occurs at sonic speed ejecting 

destructive micro jets of extremely high velocity (up to 1000 m/s) liquid strong 

enough to cause extreme erosion of the pump parts, particularly impellers. The 

bubble is trying to collapse from all sides, but if the bubble is lying against a piece 

of metal such as the impeller or volute it cannot collapse from that side. So the 

fluid comes in from the opposite side at this high velocity and bangs against the 

metal creating the impression that the metal was hit with a "ball pin hammer". 

The resulting long-term material damage begins to become visible by so called 




Pits (see Figure 11), which are plastic deformations of very small dimensions 

(order of magnitude of micrometers). The damage caused due to action of bubble 

collapse is commonly referred as Cavitation erosion or pitting. The Figure 13 

depicts the cavitation pitting effect on impeller and diffuser surface. 

Figure 13: Photographic Evidence of Cavitation 

Cavitation erosion from bubble collapse occurs primarily by fatigue fracture due 

to repeated bubble implosions on the cavitating surface, if the implosions have 

sufficient impact force. The erosion or pitting effect is quite similar to sand 

blasting. High head pumps are more likely to suffer from cavitation erosion, 

making cavitation a “high-energy” pump phenomenon. 

The most sensitive areas where cavitation erosion has been observed are the 

low-pressure sides of the impeller vanes near the inlet edge. The cavitation 

erosion damages at the impeller are more or less spread out. The pitting has also 

been observed on impeller vanes, diffuser vanes, and impeller tips etc. In some 

instances, cavitation has been severe enough to wear holes in the impeller and 

damage the vanes to such a degree that the impeller becomes completely 

ineffective. A damaged impeller is shown in Figure 14. 




Figure 14: Cavitation Damage on Impellers 

The damaged impeller shows that the shock waves occurred near the outside edge 

of the impeller, where damage is evident. This part of the impeller is where the 

pressure builds to its highest point. This pressure implodes the gas bubbles, 

changing the water’s state from gas into liquid. When cavitation is less severe, 

the damage can occur further down towards the eye of the impeller. A careful 

investigation and diagnosis of point of the impeller erosion on impeller, volute, 

diffuser etc. can help predict the type and cause of cavitation. 

The extent of cavitation erosion or pitting depends on a number of factors like 

presence of foreign materials in the liquid, liquid temperature, age of equipment 

and velocity of the collapsing bubble. 




o Mechanical deformations 

Apart from erosion of pump parts, in bigger pumps, longer duration of cavitation 

condition can result in unbalancing (due to un-equal distribution in bubble 

formation and collapse) of radial and axial thrusts on the impeller. This 

unbalancing often leads to following mechanical problems: 

• bending and deflection of shafts, 

• bearing damage and rubs from radial vibration, 

• thrust bearing damage from axial movement, 

• breaking of impeller check-nuts, 

• seal faces damage etc. 

These mechanical deformations can completely wreck the pump and require 

replacement of parts. The cost of such replacements can be huge. 

o Cavitation corrosion 

Frequently cavitation is combined with corrosion. The implosion of bubbles 

destroys existing protective layers making the metal surface permanently 

activated for the chemical attack. Thus, in this way even in case of slight 

cavitation it may lead to considerable damage to the materials. The rate of erosion 

may be accentuated if the liquid itself has corrosive tendencies such as water with 

large amounts of dissolved oxygen to acids. 

Cavitation – heart attack of the pump 

Thus fundamentally, cavitation refers to an abnormal condition inside the pump 

that arises during pump operation due to formation and subsequent collapse of vapor 

filled cavities or bubbles inside the liquid being pumped. The condition of cavitation can 

obstruct the pump, impair performance and flow capacity, and damage the impeller and 

other sensitive components. In short, Cavitation can be termed as “the heart attack of 

the pump”. 




References 

1. “ New Monitoring Systems Warns of Cavitation and Low Flow Instabilities”, Pumps and 

Systems Magazine, April 1996, Robert A. Atkins, Chung E.Lee, Henry F.Taylor 

2. “Understanding Pump Cavitation”, Chemical Processing, Feb 1997, W.E. Nelson 

3. “Centrifugal pumps operation at off-design conditions”, Chemical Processing April, May, 

June 1987, Igor J. Karassik 

4. “Understanding NPSH for Pumps”, Technical Publishing Co. 1975, Travis F. Glover 

5. “Centrifugal Pumps for General Refinery Services”, Refining Department, API Standard 

610, 6th Edition, January 1981 

6. “Controlling Centrifugal Pumps”, Hydrocarbon Processing, July 1995, Walter Driedger 

7. “Don’t Run Centrifugal Pumps Off The Right Side of the Curve”, Mike Sondalini 

8. “Pump Handbook”, Third Edition, Igor j. Karassik, Joseph P.Messina, Paul cooper 

Charles C.Heald 

9. "Centrifugal Pumps and System Hydraulics", Chemical Engineering, October 4, 1982, 

pp. 84-106. , Karassik, I.J., 

10. Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering (5th Edition), McGraw-Hill, 1993, pp. 188- 

204. , McCabe, W.L., J.C. Smith, and P. Harriott, 

11. “CAVISMONITOR: Cavitation Monitoring In Hydraulic Machines With Aid Of A 

Computer Aided Visualization Method”, Bernd Bachert, Henrik Lohrberg, Bernd Stoffel 

Laboratory for Turbomachinery and Fluid Power Darmstadt University of Technology 

Magdalenenstrasse 4, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany 

12. “The Hydraulic Pump Inlet Condition: Impact on Hydraulic Pump Cavitation Potential”, 

G.E. Totten and R.J. Bishop, Jr.Union Carbide Corporation Tarrytown, NY 

13. "Study of Cavitation Collapse Pressure and Erosion, Part I: A Method for Measurement 

of Collapse Pressure", Wear, 1989, Vol. 133, p.219-232, T. Okada, Y. Iwai and K. 

Awazu, 

14. “Key Centrifugal Pump Parameters and How They Impact Your Applications” Part 1 

Pumps and Systems: They Go Together, Doug Kriebel, PE, Kriebel Engineered 

Equipment 

15. “How to compute Net Positive Suction Head for centrifugal pumps”. J. J. Paugh, 

P.E.Vice President, Engineering, Warren Pumps Inc. 

16. “New Monitoring System Warns of Cavitation and Low-Flow Instabilities”, APRIL 1996 

PUMPS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE, Robert A. Atkins, Chung E. lee and Henry F. 

Taylor 

17. “Detecting Cavitation in Centrifugal Pumps”, Experimental Results of the Pump 

Laboratory, Jeremy Jensen Project Engineer, Bentley Rotor Dynamics Research 

Corporation

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